I’m a soup-making fiend right now. Perhaps it’s because at the start of January I was smart, took those few quiet days at the beginning of the year to stock my pantry with lots and lots of beans. While most dried bean-preparation requires forethought (like soaking them the night before), lentils do not. Having these beautiful red lentils in my cabinet have yielded delicious soup after delicious soup. All are able to be whipped up at a moment’s notice.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I know some of you are planning a homemade sushi dinner. Whether this is your first time or you’re a seasoned pro, making sushi at home can be simple, fun, and rewarding. I’ve written before on how to make sushi rolls and Adrianna recently did a post on temaki, but the question I get asked the most is some version of “how do I know if the fish at my store is safe to eat raw?”.

Beef Stroganoff was one of the very few American dishes my mother knew how to cook growing up (the other was broccoli cheese casserole, which is still one of my all-time favorites) and every time she announced that beef stroganoff was on the menu for dinner, my heart skipped a beat. It’s one of those dishes that’s so nostalgic for me; it takes me back to our country-style dining room table, sitting together as a family, discussing how our day was.

Shortcakes make awesome desserts because they come together quickly and they’re relatively forgiving. Still, with a biscuit dough and rustic flavor, I’m always left feeling like they’re better suited as a breakfast item, rather than the end to a posh meal.

Game Day is upon us! And thanks to some nifty Googling I now know that the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos are playing. I’d be lying if I said I’m a serious, diehard football fan, but I am a dead serious fan of snacks, so I do have a few good reasons to show up to a Super Bowl party this Sunday.

When developing recipes even the most inspired ideas can come to screeching halt when an ingredient isn’t available. I had originally planned for some awesome crab and corn cakes this week, but after visiting 3 stores I couldn’t find any corn — fresh, canned or otherwise. Taking that as a sign that using corn in the middle of winter was probably not the best idea, I went home with over a pound of crab meat and no idea what I was going to do with it.

One of my favorite sushi spots in Los Angeles, is called Hama, located in Little Tokyo. They have strict rules: no sides of rice served, no rolls stuffed with cream cheese and absolutely no picture-taking of your food, which is a hard one for someone like me who loves Instagram. My favorite is sitting at the cozy bar, sipping beer and eating one delicious piece of fish after the other. It’s an epic dinner. The downside is that since the restaurant is small, and is very popular, the wait can be brutal.

With a foot of fresh powder on the ground and snowdrifts that would give the Great Sand Dunes a run for their money, winter is still bearing down hard on in the northern latitudes. While I’ve got the gear to venture out and restock my pantry, I certainly don’t have the motivation.

Hi Chris, you could, but there are two drawbacks. The first is that most grinders won't get you a grind as coarse as you can get with a mortar and pestle. The second is that you'd need to empty the grinder, before refilling it to measure out the proper amount of pepper.

Yes, if you use bread containing butter or eggs, this would obviously not be vegan. While you can usually find vegan bread at places like whole foods, a generally safe bread is a french style baguette as they typically don't contain eggs or butter.

Hello, my name is cerrina. I was watching Martha Stewart on the 26 and she did I guess it was ravioli with an egg yolk inside. Would anyone know what it was called? I came in on the end of, I would like to try it. Thanks